


A Little Perspective

by shinkonokokoro



Category: The Avengers - All Fandoms
Genre: M/M, body-swapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-16
Updated: 2011-12-16
Packaged: 2017-10-27 09:57:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/294478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinkonokokoro/pseuds/shinkonokokoro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Tony's inventions don't always work out. But sometimes they do. But when they don't, they can still have a good outcome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

After being thrown to the mat more times than he could keep count— _with_ Extremis, Tony growled and climbed to his feet. "This is ridiculous! I'm not getting it, Steve!"

The other shook his head. "I don't know how else to explain it to you, Tony."

He grinned suddenly, eyes bright. "I've got it! You stay here." Tony was gone and back, arms laden down with various equipment. "Right. So something I've been working on," he said at Steve's questioning glance. "It is supposed to give the users insight. Well. One person takes point and the other is a kind of tag-along. So I just see through your eyes and a feel for your moves!"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Supposed to?"

"It's experimental. But definitely in working order!"

"Tony... I don't think—"

"Oh come on. Let's give it a try! Worst case scenario I fix it with Extremis. Nothing ba—"

"Tony, you finish that sentence, and I will knock you out. Don't curse us."

He grinned and handed Steve some sort of headband earmuff contraption. "So? Just put 'em on and flick the switch on the left ear. And I..." He trailed off, setting up a small box on the floor that he plugged into the wall. He hooked a bluetooth headpiece over his ear and then blinked, obviously doing something with Extremis. "And... _okay_! We are set. Go on. Flick it on!"

Steve lifted a finger to push the button. He winced at the feedback as Tony flicked his piece on. "How does this— _oh_ ," Steve breathed as the feeling of Tony settled over his limbs. "Oh. Oh wow. That's weird."

"Sweet! Move!" Tony had a pair of sunglasses down over his eyes, hands out for balance. He grinned. "Alright. Do the move."

Steve bounced on his toes and then did the block/kick combination before settling and looking at Tony. "So?"

"One more time." Tony was on his toes, balanced.

Steve nodded and then did the combo again. "Got it?"

Tony grinned widely and then mimicked it neatly, almost perfect.

Steve's eyes widened. "Wow! That's... incredible."

"Of course," Tony said, not humble in the slightest. "I've been working on it. It'd be good for training, wide-spread, you know. Like army. Emergency training and... stuff. Sports too. But it's not quite ready yet. Still too expensive. And I don't know how practical it would actually be. But we'll see. Do something else I don't know!" Tony's hands settled back into ready position up by his face, elbows tight.

Steve grinned. "Sure thi—" His voice cut off into a scream as he arched and the lights flickered.

Tony had a second to think 'Shit! That's no—' before he too was screaming and collapsing to the ground.

* * *

"Shit," Tony groaned, rolling over. Patting hands over his torso, he panicked at the lack of his arc reactor, looking down to see Steve's body. His hands. Were Steve's hands. Steve's feet. Steve's legs. Taking a well, not-so-wild, guess, he jostled his own shoulder gently, calling Steve's name. The other man groaned quietly through Tony's lips, eyelids fluttering.

His hands flew to his head and he cried out.

"Shit!" Extremis. "Steve? Steve. Focus on my voice. My voice only. My sultry tones—your sultry tones?" He gripped his shoulders, murmuring quiet soothing things. "Push everything to the background. Focus on my voice. Just listen to me. Don't worry about the other noise. That's it..."

Steve's hands came up to circle Tony's wrists, head dipped forward as he breathed and tried to sit. "Tony?"

"Yeah, Steve. Right here. There we go. You conscious? 'Cause we got bad news."

Steve looked up through Tony's blues, and Tony watched as his eyes went comically wide. "What happened!"

"Um. You're me. I'm you." He flashed a quick grin, lips tugging differently. "Little mishap. Nothing I can't fix..." _I_ _hope_.

Steve stared at him and then sighed heavily. "Can you fix it now?"

Tony stood. "Oh. Wow. Taller." He looked down at Steve's body, twisting and flexing. "I love being you."

Steve stood as well. "Oh my gosh. You're tiny!"

"Not where it counts, hot stuff."

"Tony!"

He laughed, the disapproving expression just plain weird on his face. "Man, it's like looking into a mirror you have no control over... I'm not that much shorter than you anyway." He bent over and snagged the screwdriver from the pocket at now-Steve's hip, making him jump in Tony's body before flushing. "Jesus. I haven't blushed like that since I was in fifth grade."

Steve glared at him, but he ignored it, jumping the ropes and went over to his equipment, fiddling the screws out. He dropped them about five times before he finally growled in frustration. "How the hell do you do anything with these sausages, Cap?"

"What?" Steve yelped, coming closer to squat near him.

"Your fingers are clumsy!"

"They are not!" Steve protested. "I'm an artist! You're just not used to being me."

Tony snorted. "Obviously.

"Besides. It's not my fault that you've got girly hands."

"My hands are not girly. They're perfectly masculine."

"Wow. I wasn't aware I was capable of sounding like such an ass."

"Oh just wait until I flirt with Fury."

He watched as his face drained, turning pale. "You wouldn't," Steve whispered.

Tony laughed again. "Course not, Cap. Man. I wish I had Extremis. This would be much easier."

Steve cursed.

"Alright? Don't think about it and you won't get those sudden influxes of information.

Steve nodded in his peripheral. "Damn. Power surge. Something's fried. I'll have to rebuild the circuit board."

"Tony, this is the last time I let you talk me in to some sort of experimental technology."

"Hey! Better us than the mass public!"

Steve groaned. "You wouldn't let it _get_ to the mass public unless it was perfect."

"Aw, thanks. Your vote of confidence increases my moral capabilities .5%" He bit his lip, pulling the fried board out, cursing softly as it burned the tips of his fingers.

"We need to fix this ASAP. And we can't let anyone know."

"Sure. Shouldn't take me too long." He stood, gathering the pieces.

"Hold up." Steve scrambled almost gracefully to his feet, pulling Tony's spine straight, expression more earnest than he'd ever seen. "A few rules."

"What?"  
"Just because you don't take care of _your_ body, doesn't mean you're going to treat mine the same way. You're going to leave it how you found it."

"Okay, boy scout."

"No, I'm serious."

Well, that _was_ Tony's serious voice.

"While you're in my body, Tony, you _will_ get at least eight hours of sleep. You'll eat healthy, and you'll still spar with me. I exercise every day. I want to keep up."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Ugh. I need to shower."

Steve's eyes via Tony's face went wide.

"What now? Are you embarrassed? Not like I haven't seen most of your skin anyway."

"Tony!"

He watched, amused as his own face flared red. "Is it a problem. I can solve it right here if you want. Want me to? Here." He pushed some of the contraption at his own body and the pulled the waistband of Steve's shorts away from skin and looked down. "Wow. Boy's packing."

" _Tony_!" Steve shrieked.

"Wow. Didn't know my voice could get that high. Jarvis? Did you have that recorded? Because that's funny. Whatever. Not a problem. Problem solved. See? Go ahead and take a peek. I don't have a problem. Here. You shower, I'll work on this, get us fixed." He smiled.

* * *

His workshop felt smaller as he hulked through it. As himself, he'd always appreciated Steve's size. When he had to _live_ Steve's size... Well. The man wasn't small. Anywhere, he reminded himself. "Jarvis, magnify circuit board times three."

"Yes, Master Rogers."

He sighed. "For the final time, Jarvis. I'm _Tony_."

"As you say."

He growled and hunched over the table more, soldering a new connection. "Damn you Steve and your fat fingers too."

"Steve?"

He heard Pepper's heels on the stairs a bit too late, panicking and stripping the goggles off his head and tossing them somewhere.

"What are you doing down here?"

"Miss Potts!" He flicked the solder gun off behind him and reached for a pencil, scrabbling behind him for paper. Steve drew. Excuse, excuse, excuse!

"Steve." She smiled. "How many times have I told you. 'Pepper' is fine."

"Of course..." He threw her what he hoped was Steve's should-be-patent-able puppy dog smile and ducked his head to look sheepish.

"Have you seen Tony?" She looked around the workshop.

"Uh...no. I haven't... He um. Went upstairs. To shower. Did you need something?"

"Oh, I was just looking for him to sign some papers. Nothing too important."

"I can forge it. For him."

Pepper blinked at him. "What? No! You shouldn't... Tony can take responsibility for his own signature."

He grinned, wondering how many conversations Steve and Pepper had behind his back. "Um. Right. Just. I thought. You know. Artist. I could forge it pretty easy. Let you get back to work. We just got done working out and... Well. He'll probably take a long shower." He wouldn't. Steve didn't like to waste water. Or cause that much of a dent in the heating bill.

Pepper sighed and rolled her eyes, pulling a stool over to sit on. "How are you doing?"

"Um. Fine?" No no. Don't stay. Why are you staying? He smiled, forgetting this was Steve's body and the hi-this-is-small-talk-that-I-really-don't-want-to-have-won't-you-please-go-away smile probably wouldn't work so well as it did from his facial musculature.

"You sure?" Pepper frowned at him. "You seem...off."

"What? No. I'm fine. Honestly. I'm sure." He gave her another reassuring smile. "Sorry. I was just distracted."

She gave him a fond indulgent smile, the kind Tony rarely saw directed at him. "Alright, boy scout."

"You and Tony both," he whined.

Pepper laughed. "Alright then. I'll just leave these here for Tony. You tell him to bring them to me when he's signed them.

Tony nodded. "Sure thing, Pep."

Shaking her head, she turned her expensive heels and headed back upstairs.

As soon as she was gone, he grabbed a pen an scrawled his signature across the dotted lines and retrieved his goggles from halfway beneath a drawer-base to get back to fixing the circuit board.

He heard his own shuffle down the steps before he saw his body enter the workshop, hesitant. He chuckled. "Get over here!"

Steve blinked and then navigated himself through the boxes and pieces of machinery that were really more of a hazard than anything else. "Any progress?"

"Um... yeah," he said, dragging a line of wire closer.

"Good. Finish the rest tomorrow, alright. Bed time. You're up by six."

"Six!" he yelped, looking up at Steve. "Steve! I'm not a morning person."

Steve folded Tony's arms and managed to look very intimidating. "Bed, Tony. You don't have to run, but you're going to bed."

He frowned at Steve but sighed and pushed the goggles up on his forehead. "You're ridiculous, you know. You keep the hours of an old lady."

The corner of his lips twitched and the crease between his brows lessened.

"You know..." Tony said, cocking his head. "I really am ruggedly handsome." That startled Steve out of his aggressor pose, brows flying up in a way that made Tony look shockingly young. He huffed under his breath and shook his head. "Come on then, soldier." He pushed at the small of his own back and guided them to the doors. "Jarvis, lights, and lock after we leave."

"Of course, Master Rogers."

Tony sighed. "Idiot."

"I heard that, Mister Stark."

He snorted, hearing Steve giggle in front of him. "Now you get it right."

"Goodnight, Mister Stark, Master Rogers."

"Goodnight, Jarvis," Steve responded automatically. He lead the way up the stairs, skirting past the kitchen and then the spacious family room. He paused in the shadow to let Tony wave to the group watching a movie before heading towards Tony's room. "So you're sleeping in my room, right? And I'm sleeping in yours."

Tony looked at him. "Mm, yeah. Unless you want people to think we're sleeping together."

Steve blanched, as expected, eyes wide until he dropped them and muttered, "Yeah. Probably best." His cheeks had flushed again.

"Did you...want people to think that?" Tony's mind raced. That would... that would actually explain a lot.

"What! No! I..." Steve backed away.

"Steve," Tony said quietly, folding Steve's bulky arms across his chest. "Do we need to talk about this?"

"Tony! Geeze—I—no. There's nothing to talk about. Let's go. You need to sleep. And your body needs to sleep as well. So I'm going to bed. In your bed. And you're going to bed. In. Um. Mine."

Nodding slowly, he let his hands drift down to his pants, forgetting that Steve's sweats didn't have pockets. "Alright then. Hopefully we won't be needed tomorrow. I'll have to teach you how to operate the armour just in case. We can't have Iron Man looking like an idiot, can we?" He smirked and then hooked his thumbs into the waistband. "G'night, Steve. Sleep well in my giant comfortable bed."

"Goodnight, Tony." He smiled and then made his way to Tony's door, pausing with his hand on the knob. "Um. Yeah. Teach me about the armour tomorrow." He smiled and disappeared into Tony's room.

Tony ducked into Steve's room and stripped down to his boxers before regarding Steve's precisely made bed. "Well. A bed's a bed..." And pulled down the duvet before slipping into the sheets, kicking at the end a bit to loosen it up. Staring at the ceiling, he sighed and then flipped the bedside lamp on and reaching for Steve's sketchbook. Flipping idly through the pages for a fresh one, stopping every so often at a particularly stunning one of the Avengers doing something mundane and normal. He paused at one of himself, frowning over some tech. His brow gently furrowed, the sun lighting him from the back. Tony smiled. Another few pages and there was another of himself, konked out on the sofa, dead to the world. He chuckled. Him to a 'T.' Another few pages and it was another of him, dozing by the pool out back. Looking slick and sun-warmed, like a satisfied cat. God, Steve did like him. Tony swallowed and flipped through later pages, finding other sketches of himself, smiling teasingly at a meeting, dead above a cup of coffee, fierce and angry and railing against...Clint? Maybe. Tony huffed, shaking his head as he found a clean page and picked up the charcoal on Steve's table and idly sketched plans of circuits and transistors. He allowed himself a half hour of sketching, letting his mind wander in a way he hadn't the luxury of since Extremis before finally sighing and leaning over to turn off the light and shut his eyes against Steve's pillow.

* * *

He slapped away the alarm when it went off in the morning.

* * *

"Tony! Tony!" a voice hissed next to his ear.

He jerked, flinging himself forwards into movement before he consciously knew what he was doing. Blinking, he frowned up at his own face from the floor, a smile spreading across lips he never saw unless looking in a mirror.

"Steve."

"You were supposed to be out of bed two hours ago."

"And you let me sleep? How sweet of you."

Steve shook his head and sighed. "Come on then. You should probably shower. Then come get coffee. Only one cup though. For you. I'll have your customary four. Geeze, you really need stop drinking it. I have your headache. Thanks."

He grinned and stretched up out of the crouch. "I feel great!"

Steve returned the grin, wry and amused. "That's what comes of taking care of yourself. Go shower."

"Sounds great." He felt more awake than he had in the past. "See ya in the kitchen."

Steve sighed. "Hopefully Pepper made coffee."

"Oh yeah. 'You' signed some papers. They're downstairs in the workshop still. And by you, I mean me. Just let her know they're down there. Grunt when people talk to you and then lose yourself in the decadent taste of supreme Columbian roast. I'll be down as soon as possible."

Steve stared. "I've never seen you so talkative before coffee."

He grinned. "Must be those super soldier perks! Alright. Go. Go get coffee." He waited until Steve was gone before stripping down and stepping into the shower once the water was warm. Bathing efficiently for once, trying to remember that the equipment wasn't his, Tony hopped out, wrapped the towel around his waist and ransacked Steve's drawers for something that _wasn't_ a white t-shirt and jeans. No such luck. Jeans it was, though he did find a red t-shirt with some sort of abstract design on it that Steve probably didn't wear for precisely that reason. He shrugged and pulled it over his head, towelling the blonde hair dry before hanging the towel (mostly neatly) over the rack.

His stomach growled as the smells from the kitchen hit him. Steve's body was hungry. Hopefully Steve wasn't the one cooking, seeing as Tony couldn't cook anything that didn't turn out like charcoal. Quickening his step, he skidded into the kitchen and was faintly relieved to see no one else there. "Remember I can't cook, Steve."

"I know," Steve said, lifting a mug of coffee to his lips.

"You're Tony."

"I know, _Steve_. No one was here, and you said you'd be down soon, so I thought I would get started and then you can pretend to finish up when someone gets close."

"You're so smart," he teased, grabbing the second mug and pouring himself coffee. "So. After breakfast, Iron Man?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"I'll show you how it works and then you can play around while I figure out my Tag-Along System."

"You've named it?" He scooped bacon and omelets onto plates for the two of them.

"Whoops. Peter's coming."

"You can tell?" Steve looked at him sharply, ditching the apron and stuffing it into a cabinet and handing Tony the spatula.

"Couldn't you?"

"Yeah... I was just...surprised you could so quickly."

Tony grinned and turned the stove off. "Genius."

Steve rolled his eyes, settling into a chair in Tony's familiar drape easily.

"Heya!" Peter said, pattering into the room, peering in the pan. "Aw, you didn't leave any, Cap?"

Tony grinned over at him over his plate as he settled in the chair across from Steve. "Sorry..."

"No you're not." He glared at him before losing interest and burying his head in the fridge. "So what's the plan? Aliens on the horizon? Evil dictators behind the bushes? Megalomaniacs at the grocery store?"

Tony snorted, drawing a glance from Peter filled with wonder and pride.

"I made Cap laugh! He laughed!" He pointed at him, looking to Steve for affirmation. "He laughed! You're my witness." He narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you laugh. You usually appreciate my jokes."

"Tony hasn't had his third cup of coffee yet, Peter," Tony said gently.

"Oh." He looked back to the fridge before looking at Steve with a wide-eyed stare. "Why are you _awake_?"

Steve stared back over the rim of the cup in a good approximation of Tony's thousand yard stare before appropriate amounts of coffee. "Um."

Shit.

"I'm turning over a new leaf." Steve tried for a weak grin.

Peter snorted. "Uh-huh." Pulled out the OJ and milk, yanking the cereal down with webs.

"Peter! Don't leave those up there," Tony was quick to reprimand.

Peter rolled his eyes. "No seriously. Why are you even awake, Tony? Did you stay up all night."

"No."

"Seriously?"

"He slept," Tony said casually, stuffing a bit of eggs into his mouth. Seriously. Why was he against breakfast again?

Peter flicked a quick glance at him and then Tony.

"Steve's helping me learn normal sleeping hours," Steve said in Tony's amused drawl. "You know. Like a real boy."

Tony looked at him sharply. He didn't think Steve knew that reference. Though the story of Pinnochio had been around for a while.

Peter snickered. "How's that working for him, Cap?"

"I had to wake him up," Tony said flatly. Tony-cum-Steve's eyes twinkled at him over the rim of the mug.

Setting said mug on the table, Steve straightened and pronounced, "In fact, Steve's promised if I can keep a regular schedule for a month, then I'll get a treat."

Peter snickered again. "Hello Pavlov's dog experiment. You look surprised, Cap. Gonna take him on a date?"

Tony's eyebrows flew up. "Um."

Steve laughed. "Don't worry about it. Alright, Peter. We'll see you later. I've got work to do, and I need Cap's muscles." He stood. "Meet me downstairs when you're finished." He topped his mug off and shuffled towards the workshop.

Tony watched him go, a little disconcerted at the ease with which Steve portrayed him. Then turned his attention back to his food.

"What did you do to Tony?" Peter asked, voice soft with wonder.

"Huh?"

"Tony! He's...awake. And. Wow."

"It's not _that_ unusual, Peter," he said dryly.

Peter gave him a look telling him the exact opposite. "Well. Gotta get to work. Call me if you need me, Cap."

Tony made a non-committal noise and filled his mouth with more bacon and toast. "Oh. Um. Have a nice day, Peter," he said when he swallowed, giving the kid a wave.

"Sure thing, Cap." And then Peter disappeared back out into the hallway.

Tony finished quickly, dumped the dish into the sink and skidded down to the workshop. "Alrighty. So with Extremis, I can store the suit inside me."

"That sounds all sorts of wrong," Steve said, looking up from his doodle.

Tony grinned. "You know. It's creepy how much you are me. That was a bad sentence wasn't it. It's creepy how accurately you can act like me."

Steve flushed. "Well, we've worked together a lot. And I know you. And I've picked up on your...mannerisms. So there's no reason why I _shouldn't_ be able to..."

"Relax, Steve. No need to get defensive. I know you watch me."

His brows jumped up in another comical expression of surprise on Tony's face. "Oh."

Tony stuffed his hands into pants that had pockets this time and then leaned over Steve's shoulder. "Nice sketch." He really did enjoy making Steve flush. Even if it was in his body.

"Um. Thanks. So. Extremis?"

"Right. You just have to focus on it and it'll—hold on. Stand and get away from everything. You know. Just in case. There we go. Focus on the suit—the gold stuff, you know. And—hey! There you go."

Steve looked down wonderingly at the gold material covering his body, twisting his hands. "Wow. That's... that's really neat."

"You bet your ass it's neat!" Tony grinned, stepping back. "Now focus on the armour. It should come pretty quick. Keep everything else at the back of your mind though. Don't get overwhelmed."

Steve's brow furrowed and he nibbled his lower lip, clearly focused.

Geeze. No wonder he was never short partners... Tony shook his head. Getting a boner in Steve's body would be really embarrassing. Never mind the twisted reality of getting turned on by himself. He wasn't _that_ narcissistic.

"Okay. This is harder than I give you credit for..." His face lit up, however, when the armour leached out and covered him. Another look of concentration and the face-plate stayed open. "Got it!"

"I can see that." He folded his arms and moved to his workbench. "Work on walking around. We won't start with repulsor stuff yet. Give me 45 minutes."

"Ooh! Stopwatch. You have a stopwatch with Extremis?"

"Steve. I have _everything_ with Extremis. Watch some TV if you want. I..." He trailed off, frowning at some of the circuitry.

"Tony?"

"Huh?"

"Are you listening, Tony?"

"Hu—yeah." He poked at the connection, twisting wires.

"No you're not. You're doing tech stuff. And you're not listening to me at all."

"Sure, Steve." He sat back sometime later, flexing fingers he wasn't used, that weren't used to this sort of work. "Man, your fingers suck." He looked around to see Steve hovering a foot above the ground. "Hey!"

Steve dropped sharply, looking guilty.

"No no, hey, good for you, figuring it out without my help." Tony smiled at him.

Steve's grin returned, and he jetted over towards Tony. "I don't know if I would be able to _really_ fly, but I've got the hover down. Progress."

"Yeah. How long has it been?"

"Almost an hour and a half."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Meaning it's only about an hour later than I normally get up."

"Speaking of which. Your body wants more coffee."

"Right. Go get some. You don't have to stay down here the whole time. Just leave me here to work and go get your coffee. Take the armour off, obviously."

Steve's face crinkled in concentration and then the armour disappeared. "Neat! This is so cool!"

Tony chuckled and then turned back to his work, losing himself in the mindlessness of it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Tony! _Tony_!" A hand came crashing down on his shoulder, dragging him away from his work.

"What the f—"

His own worried, tense face looked down at him. "We've got a call. We've got to go."

"Shit." He dropped his tools, shaking himself, adrenaline putting him in Avengers mode. "I was hoping. I was _really_ hoping..."

"We don't have time. My uniform is upstairs. Let's go."

Tony followed him up the stairs, two at a time. Dashing into Steve's room, he stripped his clothes off and fumbled for the uniform, Steve stumbling in behind him to help.

"It's... sorry! It's tricky the first time..." Between the two of them, they'd fumbled the uniform onto Tony. Steve settled the shield on Tony's arm. "Um. Be careful with it."

"Oh Steve. I'll be careful with your baby. Don't worry."

Steve punched his arm. "I know you will. Let's go!"

Grabbing onto him, Tony held his breath and maybe prayed a little while Steve took off—thank god he was a quick learner. It was a little bit of a wild ride, but he found he could hold on well enough.

"Took you guys long enough!" Clint yelled, diving behind a car as he shot the Doom bots.

"Are you kidding me?" Tony whined. "Doom bots?"

"Sorry, guys," Steve said over the comms. "It uh..."

"We're here now," Tony interrupted to keep Steve from spilling their cover. "Fill us in."

"Doom Bots, obviously," Natasha said, "no discernible goal. Causing havoc. Get your asses in gear and help."

Tony ground his jaw to keep from saying something out-of-character in Steve's body. "Thank you, Black Widow," he settled for instead. "Shit," he muttered aside to Steve. "How are we going to do this..."

"I can probably aim pretty well with your suit..."

"Let's do it," Tony said grimly.

* * *

"Well, I'm gonna put this nicely," Fury said. "What the _fuck_ happened out there!"

He felt Steve wince next to him. "Sorry, Sir. It just—"

"Oh this had better be good, Rogers. Because I did _not_ expect this from _you_ of all people."

Tony winced. "I just..."

"Listen, Cap needs a break!" Steve jumped in. "He hasn't been on vacation...oh _ever_."

"Shut the _fuck_ up, Stark. You're the _last_ person I want to be hearing from right now," Fury growled.

"Sir, it was an off day, and I'm sorry. But everyone's okay, and we—"

"Will be paying property damages for _decades_!"

"Right. Well, we're going to go," Steve said quickly in Tony's glib voice, "before you pop a blood vessel and bleed all over us..." He turned and elbowed Tony out the door.

" _Stark!_ _You_ _better_ hope _all_ _I_ _do_ _is_ _bleed_ _on_ _ya_!"

"Shit shit shit shit!" Tony said breathlessly as they escape down the hall and into an elevator to escape back home.

"We have got to fix this," Steve agreed, laughing a little as they collapsed back into the plush seats of Tony's limo and were driven home.

"Oh God. Fury's eye. Did you _see_ the vein? We weren't even that bad!"

Steve snorted. " _Tony_. You hit Banner with my shield!"

"Hey, he finally hulked."

"I can't believe you've turned that into a verb."

Tony grinned. "Whatever. The English language is my bitch."

Snorting, Steve jostled him with an elbow. "You're impossible."

"I'm pretty sure I can fix it soon..."

Steve sighed and slumped against his own solid arm. "Geeze, I am pretty intimidating sometimes, aren't I."

"Huh?"

"You got this scary _look_ when you were crushing one of those bots, and I never realised that I could look so intimidating."

" _Duh_ , Steve. You're Captain America. I think it's in the job description."

"Your suit's pretty awesome."

"I know," Tony preened.

"Don't look smug. It's weird on my face."

Snickering, Tony pushed out of the car as it came to a halt. "I'm pretty sure Jarvis is the only one who knows our secret," he said, hip-checking the door open.

"And what secret is that?" Pepper asked from the front hall as they entered.

"Shi—Pepp—Miss Potts!" Tony blurted.

"Pepper!" Steve said smoothly, pushing Tony forward. "No secret. There's no secrets here."

Tony could feel himself blushing.

"Uh-huh. Tony, listen. We nee—"

"Can we talk about it later? 'Cause I really need to uh..." Steve looked around desperately.

"We didn't do so hot with the Doom bots today," Tony admitted with one of Steve's shy smiles. "And Tony and I need to practise getting our rhythm back in sync."

"Oh really?" Pepper drawled with an arched eyebrow at Steve.

It would have been hilarious to see his eyes go so wide, Tony thought, if it weren't for the fact that he never _did_ _that_.

"Ste— _He_ said it! Not me!" Steve blurted quickly and shot past Tony towards the basement.

Pepper squinted after him. "Hm. That's new. He likes you, Rogers."

"I'm sorry?"

"Tony. He likes you. That was impressive." She smiled. "Tell him there are new details about the Soco merger, and there are plans that he needs to approve before the production team moves forwards." And then handed him a stack of papers. "And those need to be signed. Take care, Steve. Take care of Tony."

"I uh..."

"Don't worry about it. Just keep doing what you're doing. He's happier." And then clicked out the door.

"Wow. So not expected that..." Tony smiled slowly and dropped the stack of papers on the table in the front hall before hurrying downstairs. "Oh Ste~eve!"

Steve looked up as he came down the stairs. "Sorry, I—"

"So apparently Pepper noticed we've got the hots for each other."

Steve blushed.

Damn, that was attractive. Maybe he should relearn how to blush. Could he do that? Extremis could probably reroute blood vess— "Um. Yeah. Anything you want to tell me?"

"Wait... Hots for _each_ _other_?" He flicked his eyes in Tony's direction.

Tony pushed him into the lab. "That's what I said. Jarvis, lab protocol 69, lights 75%."

"Wha—" Steve looked around wildly, catching the door latching, and the glass dimming until it was opaque. "Tony...?"

Tony grinned, looking down at himself. Eyes wide, dilated. Lips parted. Flushed. Steve's weak grunt when his back hit the wall.

"Oh God, Tony. Wait wait wai—"

He cut him off, fitting his lips over Steve's—his own—screw vanity issues, and pressed Steve's body closer to his own.

"Oh my God, are we really going to do this now?" Steve said, inching up against the wall like he wanted to get away.

Tony pulled back. "Do you not want this? Am I—shit—am I misreading things? 'Cause I was pretty sure tha—"

"No, you're right," Steve admitted, dropping his eyes, hands tight against his chest. "I just... Well, you're _me_..."

"Yeah..." Tony stared at him.

Steve blinked. "You don't have a problem having sex with yourself."

"Always wanted to try."

Steve's face stayed blank.

Tony sighed. "It's _you_."

"What?"

"You, Steve. It's you. I know it's you. That you're wearing me as clothes doesn't really matter."

"That's a disturbing image."

Tony grinned, leaned in. Steve leaned towards him. Not away. "I'll show you all the things I like..." he teased.

"Oh God..." Steve said faintly.

"Nah, just 'Tony,' lover boy."

Steve finally grinned a little, letting Tony lean in further and kiss him. "You're such a bad influence..." he breathed in between trading air. "I would never do this—this is so beyond...Tony this _is_ weird..."

Tony pulled back. "Too weird?"

Steve searched his face. "You want this?"

"Hell yes."

"Then I want this."

Tony beamed. "Fuck. I'm gonna make this—this is— _Steve_ _—_ this is going to be amazing." The thoughts run on, from his brain out his mouth, not even stopping to collect 200 dollars at 'go.' Undoing his belt, Tony felt Steve's hands fumble around at the waist of his jeans. "No wait," he said, pushing Steve back, feeling the tension as Steve fought to move. Blood rushed away from any and all higher brain power, and he groaned.

"Tony..."

"You can't move, can you?" He felt again, Steve push at him. "You can't. _Fuck._ Steve. _Steve_... That's... I can push you around."

Steve went limp against him, face flushed.

"I love it," Tony blurted. "I can't even... I love it..." And buried his face in the junction of his own neck and shoulders, tugging his slacks down so they pooled at Steve's ankles.

Steve squirmed a little, pushing at the jeans that clung on Steve's body. "Come on... Help me here..." But then Steve was gasping into Tony's ear about the way that Tony's hand gripped his cock.

"I wanna..."

"Do it!" Steve gasped out.

Tony growled with Steve's voice and bit lightly at Steve's shoulder, chest pressed against him tightly so he couldn't move. His hands circled Steve's cock—his own—how about that for a whole new level of masturbation... sliding down to tug lightly at the head, thumbing over the slit. Steve gasped, hips making a little abortive jerk. "Steve... Steve, did you take a crap earlier...?"

" _What_?"

"Did you shit?"

"N-no... _Oh_. You wanna... No. No I didn't..." Steve whispered, eyes squeezed shut.

"S'okay. There's other stuff..." He grinned wickedly. "Lick my hand."

Steve was flushed horribly, but gripped Tony's wrist and kept his gaze when he licked a strip up the middle of Tony's palm.

"Again," Tony ordered gruffly.

Steve did, following the contours, letting his tongue dip into the spaces between Tony's fingers.

Tony waited until his hand was damp and then pulled away, pushing Steve's shoulders against the wall with a hand to his chest. Grinned at him and then slid his damp palm up and down Steve's cock loosely, tightening at the base. Back down his length, easing off the pressure as he neared the head and finished with his thumb across the slit. Five passes and Steve's hips were twitching, his mouth streaming nonsense while his hands roamed over Tony—across his chest and shoulders, up into the short-hairs at the nape of his neck, tugging lightly. "Yeah... How'm I doing?"

"Yes... Jesus, Tony..."

"Lots of energy into practise," he purred, leaning in again to tug at his ear lobe, blowing cool air over the dampened flesh.

Steve shivered and then moaned, noise coming out of his mouth where he was trying to articulate some need.

"What d'you want, Steve? What d'you want?"

"I need more!" Steve panted, hips twitching into Tony's hand.

Tony groaned and pushed at his pants with his free hand, keeping a loose cradling hold on the dick Steve was borrowing from him. He pushed his chest against Steve's to keep him still, groaning as he freed his own cock and pressed his hips up against Steve's. Rewarded with a groan from Steve, he shifted closer and slotted Steve's cock up against his, the head of Tony's (admittedly) smaller organ pressed up under the head of Steve's. Letting his head fall to meet Steve's forehead, Tony thrust against Steve, controlling all the movement.

"O- _oh_! Tony...! Tony, come on...!" Steve babbled, hands letting up on their grip on Tony's shoulders to meander down his back and cup his butt closer. "Almost...come on..."

"Yeah..." Tony agreed breathlessly, stroking them faster, smearing his hand over the heads of their cocks before squeezing back down the shafts. "Jesus... This is... Steve, you're gorgeous..."

Steve dropped his head back against the wall with a choked laugh. "Tony, _Tony_ , you're...oh God, harder—talking about yourself... This is..."

"Weird, I know it's weird. Fuck, it's weird as shit, but I love it, God, I love it, Steve...! You're so big, and you could pin me down—I love pinning you, _fuck_...!"

Tensing up with a cry, Steve shuddered and panted as his release caught him up.

Another thrust and Tony was biting down on Steve's shoulder, pressing him harder to the wall as he let his orgasm take him, gasping out half-formed words. Nothing more than friction holding them, the sweat on Steve's back and four wobbly legs let them slide to the floor. "Oh God."

"I can't...believe we just...did that..." Steve said quietly.

"I know," Tony pulled himself off his body and slumped against the wall, shoulder-to-shoulder with Steve. "But it was amazing."

Steve snorted. "I—"

"Oh!" Tony stiffened. "I know how to fix it!"

Sighing, Steve watched Tony hobble away, pants around his knees, to his table where the Tag-Along was half dismembered. "It'll be done soon then?"

"Uh, yeah!" Tony was already distracted by the parts, separating.

"I'll... Wow. I'll uh...clean u—clean you up over here. Tony, Tony! You're..." Steve broke off, mumbling.

"Sure thing," Tony replied out of habit.

* * *

"Alright!" Tony crowed almost two hours later. "We are set to go! Oh shit. This is uncomfortable..."

"I tried to tell you," Steve said, voice laced with amusement as he watched Tony shift in his pants.

"Shoulda tried harder, Cap," Tony said easily, beckoning Steve closer and holding out a bluetooth headset. "Put this on."

"This isn't going to...hurt either one of us?"

"Nope. We'll be good." Tony hooked one over his ear and then grinned. "Ready? Take a seat."

Steve looked down at Tony's body and then at the lascivious grin on his own face and nodded. "Yeah. I'm ready."

"Right. Beam me up, Scottie!" Tony said and then flicked the switch.

The lights dimmed and then went black.

He sucked in air and sat straight up, looking at his own hands. Steve was stirring where he'd sat down to work the Tag-Along. "Sweet."

Steve blinked and then smiled slowly, sweet. "Oh good!"

Stretching, Tony shook his head to clear it, running through systems with Extremis. "Oh yeah. Everything's back in order. Now, since I left you a rather unfortunate hot mess, how about a shower?"

"Huh?" Steve blinked at him.

"It's alright. Still a little slow on the uptake. I get it." Tony hopped up and took off the headsets, setting them next to the machine, eyeing it. "You know..."

"That sounds dangerous," Steve said, running hands through his hair and twisting.

"This would be really entertaining to give to Clint. Or Natasha. Or Clint _and_ Natasha..."

"Tony, _no_."

"Ooh! What if I reverse psychology Doom into wanting it! Then be sure that... I dunno, the other headset is given to a rat."

Snorting, Steve stood. "I think a shower would be a good idea."

"Oh yeah. Let's go, babe..." Tony swayed up to him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt to pull him down to kiss him.

They giggled up towards Tony's room, ducking into the dining room as Clint ambled by. Clothes half off in Tony's giant bathroom, Tony leaned up against Steve's back.

"Yeah?"

Tony grinned. "I like you an awful lot."

Steve blushed and turned to undo the buttons of Tony's shirt. "I like you an awful lot too."

"Good," Tony purred, guiding Steve back into the hot spray. "Definitely good."


End file.
